Paris Agreement: Deeper significance for Fiji, Pacific

"No one believes Trump can win so no real Plan B here!" wrote Saleemul Huq, director of the International Institute for Environment and Development, of the GOP nominee, who was seen trailing in the polls before the election. The Paris deal was a major victory for getting countries like the US and China to agree to cut greenhouse gas emissions. They woke to find the global climate process thrown into chaos.

The Obama administration used executive action to advance climate-friendly policies, including joining the Paris Agreement.

"Now that the election campaign has passed and the realities of leadership settle in, I expect he will realize that climate change is a threat to his people and to whole countries which share seas with the US, including my own", Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine said in a statement.

"We were among the first organisations to endorse President-elect Trump", the AEA said in a statement. Katherine Egland, the chair of the Environmental and Climate Justice Committee of the US National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, told China.org.cn that she was "disappointed" by the results. It is not a legally binding agreement, something many countries tried to achieve during the negotiations, which leaves more wiggle room for the Trump administration not to comply immediately after taking office.

Trump has described global warming as a "hoax" perpetrated by the Chinese government, and has said at different times that he would "renegotiate" or "cancel" the 196-nation deal.

Aware of Mr Trump's intentions, countries speedily ratified the Paris deal and it became a binding part of global law on 4 November. To address the issue of climate change adequately, the new President will have to take seriously how methane emissions from fracking contribute to climate change while expanding investments in renewable energy.

Carola Ortega, 21, a New Jersey native and student observer in Marrakech, said a post-election briefing for her group succinctly laid out the challenges ahead.

Jacqueline McGlade, chief scientist of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), told China.org.cn on Wednesday that "the UNEP greatly hopes that the outcome of the USA election will not distract us from the real challenges that lie ahead of us".

"We're not giving up the fight and neither should the worldwide community". "Other developed countries, like Europe, Canada, Australia and Japan, must increase their pledges for pollution cuts and increase their financial support for our communities". A White House energy official said last week that "we're coming into this year's COP with a tremendous amount of positive momentum".

"It's like driving down an interstate highway at 65 miles an hour and then virtually plunging into a wall, because it is going to bring progress to a halt", he said. While it will nearly certainly have a destabilising effect, experts have argued Trump would risk making the United States an global pariah if he tried to pull out of the agreement.

Once out of the UNFCCC, it would take four years to formally leave the Paris Agreement. The new administration might submit it to the Senate for ratification, which would likely be denied.

"The real disincentive for the US or any other country to simply disregard the Paris Agreement is pressure from other countries that are playing by the rules", said Alden Meyer, of the USA -based Union of Concerned Scientists.

The election-night surprise occurred at the beginning of the first week of talks in Marrakech. However, the transition toward cleaner energy is so entrenched in the U.S.it would continue without federal money, she added. However, Trump could also decide to simply ignore the USA pledge to reduce emissions by 26-28 per cent from 2005 levels by 2025.

Donald Trumphas previously said he would take the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement, and rescind President Obama's executive actions on climate change.

Paul Bodnar, the former climate chief of the White House National Security Council, said Pershing and the US team could consider banding with other major economies to show that the Paris deal meets the criteria of shared commitment and effort that the Senate demanded of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997.